MUSIC, DESIGN & INSPIRATION

Archive for "post-dubstep"

Sometimes you listen to certain track, and it just stays in your head… and you want to listen to it again and again. “More then a year” from Windsor is one of these tracks for me. Lush with deep pads, a slow kick and a great looped vocal. The second track “I am fascinated” feels more progressive.. but keeps the deep atmosphere. A very warm release, sounds for rainy days as well as a summer evening.. a very promising first appearance. There’s not much to say about the artist/s.. the FB page dates to the beginning of June, the upload is 4 days old. I just know that this is produced in Berlin and i am looking forward to find out more. Have a listen, good stuff!

One of my favourite mixtapes these days. Percussion Lab’s 23 year old Nooka Jones also described as their “intern” in the attempt of merging all the grooves he loves in one mix. Check him out at http://soundcloud.com/nookajones. Just about my way of thinking.. stop calling it names, it’s music.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

It’s fitting that the first feature mix we’re posting after a long overdue site upgrade is by Nooka Jones. Nooka joined the Percussion Lab family as our ‘intern’ last Fall. He hasn’t done much in the way of coffee retrieval, office sweeping, or other typical intern tasks; his duties more or less consist of straight rocking the opening slot (and sometimes the closing slot) of our weekly Monday night Percussion Lab Radio event.

Nooka is one of the most open and curious dj’s I’ve met. His sets are defined by seamless mixes and a freakishly comprehensive knowledge of the history of dance music for a 23 year old. In his first (almost all vinyl!) mix for the site, Nooka goes the ‘journey’ route, choosing to cram all of his disparate influences and passions into a single mix.

Long story short, it works. From the funky abstract bubblings of Falty DL, Seafloor and Soul Clap, to the pure house stylings of Oliver $ and Catz n Dogs, to producers of the moment like Addison Groove, Boddika, and Sepalcure, he touches on all of the various genres and sounds that make up the wide open world club music is enjoying in a post-dubstep moment.

There’s a lot of shit attached to that term, ‘post dubstep’, but I think it fits. For the last year or so – dare I say since the end of Dub War NYC? – wherever you go to hear dance music, you’re hearing people play across genre lines. We’ve been calling it ‘bass music’, but post dubstep fits as well…dubstep was more than a sound, it was a way of viewing the dancefloor, the global dance culture, the studio, and the speakers themselves. As the genre devolved into metal-influenced basslines and a brostep culture, the heads took off for the far corners of the dance music world, forcing cumbia, reggae, house, UK Funky, hip hop, grime, dubstep, and jungle back into the blender, and instead of coming up with the next ‘It sound’, decided to put it all under one umbrella, and just groove.

Let’s be clear: ‘Post dubstep’ isn’t a genre title, it’s a state of mind. The ‘Next Big ‘Sound’ is gathering itself in the wings, to be sure, but in the meantime, if you listen to this mix, you’ll see that wherever we’re going as a scene, we’re gonna have a good time on the way. Nooka Jones nails the cross genre moment we’re in…Enjoy.